9 Best CMSs for Website Building in 2025

#Summary

In this article, we explore what to consider when choosing a CMS to build your website in 2025—ease of use, scalability, security, and flexibility. We compare leading solutions and show you why Hygraph stands out with its GraphQL-native, API-first approach, helping you future-proof your site with structured content, Content Federation, and composable architecture.

• Traditional CMSs tie content to templates, making scaling and omnichannel use difficult.
• Open-source platforms create maintenance overhead, security risks, and technical debt.
• Page-builders lack backend structure and limit long-term growth.
• Hygraph offers GraphQL-native APIs, flexible content modeling, and Content Federation.
• With composable architecture, Hygraph adapts to any stack and future use case.

For businesses building scalable websites in 2025, Hygraph is the best-fit CMS.

If you’re currently researching the best CMS for website projects, here are the major evaluation criteria and a comparison of nine leading CMS solutions to consider in 2025.

#Factors to Consider When Selecting a CMS

Choosing the right CMS for website success means evaluating more than just price. The platform should support your content strategy today and give you room to grow tomorrow.

Ease of use

The CMS should match both the complexity of your site and the skills of the teams managing it. Consider:

• Editorial features that let teams efficiently add, edit, preview, schedule, publish, localize, organize, and reuse content.

• Developer tools, documented APIs, and support for agile deployment scenarios.

• Collaboration capabilities that allow teams to work together or independently as needed.

• Custom roles, permissions, and workflows.

Content structure and design options

How the CMS structures content affects the front‑end possibilities and how efficiently you can reuse information.

Page‑based templates

Platforms built around page templates let editors insert content into pre‑defined layouts. If you want a different design, developers have to create new templates, and content tends to get tied to specific pages.

• Suitable for simple websites that use standard content types and don’t change often.

Modular content

Content structured as repeatable components—hero banner, call to action (CTA), customer testimonial, blog entry—can be mixed and matched to create unique layouts without developer help. Editors can reuse components across pages, update content once, and have the changes appear everywhere. This approach is ideal for sites with unique content types, localized experiences, or frequent updates.

Customization and extensions

Determine whether the CMS can support unique content types, workflows, third‑party integrations, and new customer channels. A modern CMS should adapt to your strategy rather than forcing you to adapt to its limitations. Assess how easily you can maintain plugins or integrations as your business scales.

Help and support

Onboarding and ongoing support matter. Look for training materials, integration guides, migration tools, workshops, and consulting. Evaluate the vendor’s customer support options—especially if you want the ability to contact someone directly when issues arise. Many CMSs are offered as Software‑as‑a‑Service (SaaS), where the vendor handles platform maintenance and provides automatic security updates. Pricing tiers often include options for customer support and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Security

Security shouldn’t be an afterthought. Look for:

• Strong password policies, multi‑factor authentication (MFA), and single sign‑on (SSO).

• Finely tuned roles and permissions.

• Frequent security updates and patches that are automatic or easy to implement.

• Backup policies to restore data.

• Audit logs and monitoring tools.

• Compliance with standards such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR.

• If you rely on plugins, stay on top of their updates and compatibility, as plugin vulnerabilities are a common source of breaches.

Total cost of ownership

Some CMSs are cheap to get started with, but costs can balloon as your site grows. Others require a bigger upfront investment but scale more efficiently. Factor in:

• Initial setup costs: software licenses, hardware, development, implementation, and training.

• Ongoing expenses: hosting, maintenance, testing, updates, security patches, and personnel.

• Premium plugins, templates, or modules.

• SaaS pricing factors: user seats, API calls, bandwidth, content entries, content types.

Monolithic vs. Headless

In a monolithic CMS, the back‑end and front‑end are tightly coupled. Content is stored and presented through the same codebase, which enables WYSIWYG editing but restricts content to specific pages and channels. Monolithic platforms can work for simple websites that rarely change, but any front‑end modification impacts the back‑end, limiting flexibility.

A headless CMS, by contrast, separates content from presentation. Content is delivered via API to any “head,” whether that’s a website, mobile app, kiosk, or wearable device. This decoupling lets you reuse content across channels, choose your favorite front‑end frameworks, and adapt quickly to new markets or technologies.

#9 Best CMSs for Building a Website in 2025

1. Hygraph

Hygraph is a headless, SaaS CMS built for teams that want to unify data from multiple systems and deliver dynamic, mission‑critical content on any channel.

Best for: Organizations working with unique content types, large datasets, complex workflows, and multiple brands or markets. Hygraph’s flexibility makes it ideal for enterprises seeking a composable tech stack.

Key features:

• Flexible content structure. Use the low‑code schema builder to define modular components and relationships tailored to your needs.

• Rich editing experience. Content creators can mix‑and‑match components, preview changes, schedule releases, and publish multi‑channel content without developer assistance.

• Content Federation. Hygraph’s universal GraphQL API fetches data from multiple systems in a single query, eliminating middleware and improving performance.

• API‑first design. Adapt functionality to support new channels, unique content types, and third‑party integrations.

Pros: Hygraph enables you to manage large volumes of content, reuse components, replicate environments, and perform bulk operations via the UI or GraphQL mutations. Granular permissions, workflows, data validation, and versioning simplify collaboration while keeping content safe.

Cons: For small sites with simple content types, the structured approach can feel like overkill. Initial setup requires developer expertise, so ensure you have resources in‑house or through an agency.

Pricing:

• Free (3 user seats, 5 K content entries) – $0/month

• Professional (10 seats, 20 K entries) – $199/month

• Scale (20 seats, 50 K entries) – $799/month

• Enterprise (100+ seats, 1 M+ entries) – custom pricing

2. Storyblok

Storyblok is a headless, SaaS CMS focused on giving content creators a visual editing experience while keeping content structured and deliverable via APIs.

Image source: Storyblok

Best for: Marketing teams running websites that require a strong editorial interface but also need omnichannel delivery and integrations that traditional CMSs struggle with.

Key features: Visual drag‑and‑drop editor with live preview, component‑level collaboration, and built‑in digital asset management. Editors can comment on components and tag colleagues, and images can be optimized, cropped, or rotated in the CMS.

Pros: Storyblok offers a familiar editing experience for marketers used to traditional CMSs while still providing modern APIs. Its flexible schema supports unique content types, global components, and nested data structures.

Cons: Because the platform focuses on the visual editor, it can be less flexible than other headless CMSs for complex backend logic or e‑commerce. Roles and permission management lack granularity.

Pricing:

• Community (1 user, 250 GB traffic) – free

• Entry (5 users, 500 GB traffic) – $99/month

• Business (20 users, 1 TB traffic) – $849/month

• Enterprise – custom pricing

3. Prismic

Prismic is a headless, SaaS CMS for web and mobile sites. Developers define pre‑designed “slices” that marketers can assemble visually.

Image source: Prismic

Best for: Marketing websites with strong brand design and minimal need for complex backend logic.

Key features: A “slice” builder for developers to create design elements (headers, CTAs, quotes, feature grids) that editors drag‑and‑drop. Prebuilt templates can be styled to match your brand. A developer tool called Slice Machine lets you create slices programmatically.

Pros: The page‑builder gives editors intuitive control over layouts while maintaining design consistency. The headless model prevents inadvertent backend changes.

Cons: Prismic is designed specifically for web and mobile sites and doesn’t easily support mobile apps, single‑page applications, or other channels. Handling complex data relationships (e.g., e‑commerce) can be challenging.

Pricing:

• Free (1 user, 2 locales) – free

• Starter (3 users, 3 locales) – $10/month

• Small (7 users, 4 locales) – $25/month

• Medium (25 users, 5 locales) – $150/month

• Platinum (unlimited users, 8 locales) – $675/month

• Enterprise – custom pricing

4. Builder.io

Builder.io is a headless, SaaS CMS that turns designs created in Figma into production‑ready code with the help of AI.

Image source: Builder

Best for: Design‑centric marketing websites built by teams already using Figma.

Key features: AI‑powered design‑to‑code generation that follows your coding conventions and brand design. You can define design tokens or sync them with your CSS variables to ensure consistency. Growth and Enterprise tiers include tools for personalization, A/B testing, and heatmaps.

Pros: For teams deeply invested in Figma, Builder.io can accelerate production. It combines a headless CMS with a design tool that respects API‑first principles.

Cons: Because the focus is on iterative design, maintaining a consistent content structure can be tricky, making scaling difficult. As a relatively new solution, documentation is limited and building custom integrations has a steep learning curve.

Pricing:

• Free (50 AI code generations) – free

• Basic (500 AI generations) – $19/month

• Growth (2500 AI generations) – $39/month

• Enterprise (unlimited AI generations) – custom pricing

5. Strapi

Strapi is a headless, open‑source CMS geared towards developers. It provides the foundation for an API‑first approach and can be extended to add any functionality you need.

Image source: Strapi

Best for: Teams with tight budgets and experienced developers who want full control over their CMS.

Key features: Completely customizable codebase available on GitHub, so you can tailor APIs and features. Deployment options include on‑premises, private cloud, or fully managed cloud. Multi‑database support (SQLite, MySQL, Postgres, MariaDB).

Pros: Strapi’s combination of open‑source code and modern APIs makes it appealing for teams wanting flexibility. Deploying on‑premises is useful for industries with strict regulations.

Cons: Version updates can introduce breaking changes that require manual migrations. Strapi’s editor is basic, with limited formatting options for non‑technical users.

Pricing (self‑hosted):

• Community – free

• Enterprise (SSO, audit logs, scheduled releases) – $99/seat/month

Pricing (managed cloud):

• Developer (1 seat, 1 K entries) – $29/project/month

• Pro (5 seats, 100 K entries) – $99/project/month

• Team (10 seats, 1 M entries) – $499/project/month

6. HubSpot Content Hub

HubSpot Content Hub is a monolithic, SaaS CMS designed to work seamlessly with HubSpot’s CRM and marketing automation tools.

Image source: HubSpot

Best for: Companies already invested in the HubSpot suite and focused on lead generation.

Key features: A drag‑and‑drop page editor with templates for quick landing pages, editable themes for non‑technical users, and built‑in SEO optimization tools. Advanced SEO and analytics are available in Professional and Enterprise plans.

Pros: Deep integration with HubSpot’s sales and marketing tools makes personalization and lead generation easy.

Cons: HubSpot Content Hub is primarily designed for marketing landing pages and lacks flexibility for other use cases. Customizing templates or creating your own content types is difficult, and integration with third‑party tools can be limited.

Pricing:

• Free (up to 30 pages, HubSpot branding) – $0/month

• Starter (30 pages, removes branding) – $15/month per seat

• Professional (10 K pages, advanced SEO tools) – $450/month

• Enterprise (SSO, user permissions, approval workflows, activity logging) – $1 500/month

7. WordPress

WordPress is the world’s most popular open‑source CMS. Even users with limited technical skills can launch a site quickly thanks to its intuitive interface and vast plugin ecosystem.

Image source: WordPress

Best for: Blogs and smaller, simpler websites using standard content types and static pages.

Key features: An easy‑to‑learn WYSIWYG editor, thousands of free and premium themes, and an extensive library of plugins to customize and extend your site.

Pros: WordPress’s large community makes it easy to find advice and experienced developers. The vast collection of plugins and themes allows quick customization.

Cons: The platform relies heavily on plugins, but there is no standard for code quality. That can lead to escalating maintenance costs, performance issues, and security risks. Managing complex content use cases often requires specialized developers. There is no dedicated customer support—only community forums and documentation.

Pricing: The core platform is free, but you must budget for hosting, maintaining plugin compatibility, manual updates, and any premium themes or plugins.

8. Drupal

Drupal is an open‑source CMS that ships as a monolith by default but can be decoupled via customization. It’s a developer‑centric solution offering flexibility and a steep learning curve.

Image source: Drupal

Best for: Organizations needing complex, highly customized websites built by an experienced developer team.

Key features: Highly customizable API‑based architecture, advanced caching and scaling mechanisms for performance, and structured content that decouples data from front‑end presentation.

Pros: Drupal is considered one of the more secure open‑source options thanks to its dedicated security team, strict coding standards, and comprehensive code reviews. A library of over 50 000 modules and 3 000 themes allows extensive customization.

Cons: Finding experienced Drupal developers is difficult. In Stack Overflow’s 2022 developer survey, Drupal ranked low among frameworks developers want to work with, and upgrades often require complex manual migrations.

Pricing: Drupal is free, but you bear the costs of hosting, custom feature development, and maintaining extensions or upgrades.

9. Joomla

Joomla is a monolithic, open‑source CMS positioned as a middle‑ground option—more versatile than WordPress, more user‑friendly than Drupal.

Image source: Joomla

Best for: Professional websites with straightforward use cases.

Key features: Robust user management with custom groups and access levels, native support for more than 70 languages, and flexibility to use different templates on different pages.

Pros: Community plugins and templates must follow code standards, reducing the risk of conflicts. Compared to WordPress, Joomla supports non‑standard content types more easily and has more native user functionality, which suits multi‑editor environments.

Cons: Upgrades are manual and can introduce breaking changes. The monolithic architecture and reliance on extensions can slow page loads as the site scales. As a middle‑ground option, Joomla isn’t as user‑friendly as WordPress or as flexible as Drupal.

Pricing: The core is free, but you’ll pay for hosting, maintaining extensions, manual upgrades, and any premium themes or plugins.

#How to Select a CMS for Your Website

Beyond features and pricing, think about your long‑term plans.

New website: Page‑builder or CMS?

Popular page‑builders such as Webflow, Wix, and Squarespace are intentionally absent from this list. They can be decent options for personal blogs or small businesses with static websites, but they lack key CMS functionality—integrations, workflows, unique content types—that business‑critical sites need. They also provide little backend structure, making scaling and migration difficult.

Migrating existing websites: Is it time to modernize?

If you’re moving off an existing platform, you probably have a list of pain points to address. As you migrate, consider where you want your digital business to be in a few years. Moving to another traditional CMS may solve short‑term issues but can lead to similar constraints when you need to add new channels or integrate data sources.

By contrast, a headless CMS exposes all content and functionality through APIs, making it easier to adapt to new use cases. Hygraph, for example, supports a composable approach to technology so you can pick best‑fit tools, integrate their capabilities, and swap out solutions as your needs change. To guide your selection process, consult Hygraph’s Ultimate Headless CMS Selection Checklist and define your organization’s needs, bottlenecks, and criteria for choosing the best CMS for website projects.